Passengers on board British Airways flight BA58 endured a tense few hours on Wednesday night when their aircraft, en route to London, was forced to make an emergency return to Cape Town International Airport after smoke was reported in the cockpit.
The Airbus A350 had departed Cape Town shortly after 7pm local time, but less than two hours into the flight, while flying over Namibia, and shortly before Windhoek, the crew declared an emergency and turned the plane back to the Mother City. The aircraft landed safely just after 10pm, with four fire engines on standby at the airport.
JP Smith, the City of Cape Town's Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, confirmed the incident on Facebook.
"Our emergency services were put to the test... with four of our major fire pumps on standby," said Smith. "Fortunately, the pilots were able to shut down the engines and fuel supply after landing, and the plane was escorted to a parking area where passengers waited to disembark safely."
Let's hope the mechanics on the ground give the aircraft a good once-over here in Cape Town because flight data from Flightradar24 shows that the same aircraft—G-XWBG—was involved in a similar incident just two days earlier.
On 14 April, flight BA59 took off from London bound for Cape Town, but once it reached Algeria did an about-turn and returned to London, landing in the early hours of the morning.
Despite the latest scare, no injuries were reported, and investigations into the incident are ongoing. No statement has yet been issued by British Airways.
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